Photo Credit: Phillip Hamer Photography
Anticipation. A-N-T-I-C-I-P-A-T-I-O-N. Anticipation.
The best, the brightest, and the weirdest young people in Putnam County are eagerly anticipating the 25th annual spelling bee. They’ve made it this far through a combination of intelligence, skill—and in one case, pure dumb luck. This could be their last shot at grade school glory, and victory might call for some subterfuge (S-U-B-T-E-R-F-U-G-E. Subterfuge).
The competitors are a fascinating cross-section of adolescent anxiety. Marcy Park (Sarah Wilkinson) is a chronic overachiever who can stomp the competition in pointe shoes, but secretly, she wonders what would happen if she stopped being perfect just once. Logainne Schwartzandgrubennierre (Abigail Isom), president of her elementary school’s gay-straight alliance, is a future leader under immense pressure from her two dads, determined to prove she can succeed on her own.
Chip Tolentino (Michael Schimmele) is an American all-star going through a particularly awkward (and inopportune) puberty. William Barfée (Bryce Miller) talks big, but outside of the bee, grade school is a hell of bullying and allergies. Then there is sweet Olive Ostrovsky (Alexis Kinney), who does it purely for the love of spelling; she is full of whimsy and word wisdom, but deeply misses her absent mother.
Rounding out the cast is the wild card, Leaf Coneybear (Michael Cox)… who has a cape. Leaf was second runner-up in his division and is here mostly for the vibes, but his uncanny ability to spell words he’s never heard—including the names of several South American rodents—gets him surprisingly far.
The feelings are big and the words are bigger, but the kids are safe in the hands of a true professional: Rona Lisa Peretti (Jennifer Theby-Quinn), Putnam County’s rockstar of real estate and the winner of the 3rd annual bee, will need to step up and lead. She’s joined by caring but mildly disturbed Vice Principal Panch (Christopher Hickey) and the initially intimidating—but surprisingly empathetic— counselor Mitch Mahoney (Omega Jones). He’s here to hand out juice boxes to the losers and earn some court-mandated community service hours. Together, they manage the scripted cast as well as a handful of audience volunteers pulled from the crowd, creating an unexpectedly tense elimination game.
This STAGES St. Louis production is anchored by excellent casting choices. The actors truly give their characters voice and embody their distinct physicalities. Cox is a standout as Coneybear; he is lovably lanky and awkward as he wheels about the stage in his skate sneaks, cape fluttering behind him. Each time he receives a message from the cosmos and correctly spells a word through sheer dumb luck, he delivers a thousand-yard stare and a jerking, microphone-straddling dance.
Miller—a return STAGES performer who co-headlined last year’s killer comedy Murder for Two—plays an excellent straight man. The braggadocious (B-R-A-G-G-A-D-O-C-I-O-U-S) Mr. Barfée lets his mask slip during his interactions with Olive. Together, these bright but hopelessly awkward kids realize the true beauty of spelling: it helps you find just the right words to communicate and connect with others. As Olive, Kinney is short and sweetly shy, but she has a tiger inside that comes roaring out during “The I Love You Song,” a touching, powerful plea for parental attention and affection. It arrives hot on the heels of Wilkinson’s show-stopper, “I Speak Six Languages,” a not-so-humble brag that leads to some sharp self-reflection laced with good-natured Catholic school humor.
These strong performances are enhanced by stellar set design that faithfully recreates the polyurethane and Lysol-scented splendor of the school gymnasium. The immersion is so complete it prompts Leaf to break the fourth wall and exclaim, “I’ve never been inside of a gym inside of a theater before!” Despite the humble setting, the production values are top-tier. Multicolored moving head lights, a state-of-the-art sound system with array speakers, and showers of confetti elevate this grade school competition into a surprisingly high-stakes, larger-than-life experience.
This production marks a strong start to the summer season for STAGES and the Kirkwood Performing Arts Center (210 E. Monroe Ave.), which continues to cement itself as one of the premiere venues for musical comedy in St. Louis County. STAGES will return to the venue from late July to mid-August for the perennial favorite Guys and Dolls—a story featuring the handsomest, most musically talented gangsters you’ll ever meet.
Tickets for adults start at $50, with discounts offered for children, seniors, and members of the military, and can be purchased at stagesstlouis.org/singles/. Because parking around the venue is limited and shows often sell out, this reviewer recommends arriving early, parking downtown, enjoying a pre-show meal at Billy G’s, and taking a leisurely summer stroll to the theater. | Rob Von Nordheim
